Utah Trip - Day 4

I call it the Utah trip, but that's a little misleading.  My friends Rob and Brad and I had rented a house in Kanab, so we were staying in Utah.  We stayed in the same house that we stayed in last time, the one that Margarit and the girls and I stayed at back in early 2014.  About half of our time in the area was actually spent in Arizona.  The Utah-Arizona border is just a few miles south of town.  On day three we were obviously in Arizona, at the north rim of the Grand Canyon National Park.

On this day, Monday October 19th, we stayed in Utah.  We headed about 50 miles to the north of Kanab, to Cedar Breaks National Monument.  It seemed that most of the population of Utah was decked out in blaze orange, packing a shootin' iron, and hauling a couple of ATV's out into the bush.  This is the Utah deer hunt... a spectacle to be seen...!  The deer leave the high country around the Cedar Breaks and head down towards the Arizona border.  They winter in the lower elevations, near the Coral Pink Sand Dunes we were told.  As they make their annual migration, every red neck with the good fortune of being drawn for a deer tag is waiting in the weeds with a loaded rifle.  Not exactly the best time of year to be wandering around in the wilderness.  The odds seemed pretty high that we might come down with a case of lead poisoning so we mostly tried to keep to the parks.

Cedar Breaks is situated at an elevation of over 10,000 feet.  As we drove closer and closer the clouds became heavier and we started to get into some snow.  The limited facilities in the park were essentially closed for the season, but we were free to wander around.  We made a couple of stops, hoping to find something to photograph.  The natural amphitheatre at the park looked pretty good, with a dusting of fresh snow, and some heavy clouds swirling about.  But the winds were just too intense to consider setting up our big cameras.  We retreated back down to lower elevations and decided to give Zion National Park a try.

Zion National Park is situated south of Cedar Breaks, but it was sort of a round about road that took us there.  It is still at relatively high elevation, but considerably lower than Cedar Breaks, so it was quite a bit warmer and greener.  It was obvious that significant rain had fallen here in recent weeks as there was water in all the washes, and some evidence of recent flooding.  Zion has always been too busy for my liking.  You need to park your vehicle in some parking lots and then ride shuttle buses up the Virgin River Valley to all the viewpoints and trailheads.  At the beginning of November the shuttle buses stop running, and cars are allowed to drive up the valley... but we didn't have the option of waiting that long.  When we were here in 2013 it was so busy that the parking lots were all full and everyone was being directed to park further away in the town of Springdale.  We had no real desire then or now to battle the crowds and to try and transport large format camera gear on a tour bus.  So, like last time we stuck to the Eastern Uplands of the park.  It is still busy here, but fairly easy to find a place to park and to wander around.  I find this area fascinating as the layered hills and buttes are in a state of petrified motion.  We spent the rest of the afternoon photographing here before eventually heading back to Kanab in the evening.

Utah Trip - Days 1 to 3

Brad and I left Edmonton early on the morning of Friday October 16th.  We pushed south from Edmonton, and eventually made it as far as Idaho Falls by about 8:30pm.  We found a cheap hotel and something to eat, and crashed for the night.  In the morning we were up early once again, and after a quick breakfast we hit the road.  By mid afternoon we made it to our destination, the rental house in Kanab, Utah.  Our friend Rob had departed from his home in the interior of British Columbia a week earlier.  He had explored further east in Utah, around the Moab area, in Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Capital Reef National Park.  Rob arrived in Kanab just and hour or two before Brad and I did.  He had e-mailed us and advised us to bring warm weather clothing as eastern Utah had been sunny, with temperatures in the 80's.  That favorable weather came to an end about the time Brad and I hit the road and it was cool, overcast and rainy for most of our week in the southwest.

We picked up a few groceries when we rolled into town, as did Rob, and met up at the house.  We put together a BBQ supper and relaxed and unpacked after the long drive.  We were optimistic about the days ahead, but concerned about the poor weather.  Utah was experiencing significantly more rainfall than usual and the forecast for the week was not good.  Many of the backroads were closed and there were flash flood warnings that cautioned against entering any of the slot canyons.

We got up early the next morning, which was Sunday October 18th.  It was heavily overcast and the forecast was calling for rain.  After breakfast we decided to drive roughly 90 miles south to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  The National Park was still open, but park staff were in the process of packing everything up for the winter.  The Lodge was closed, and everything would be shut down by the end of October.  The north rim at 8200 to 8800 feet above sea level is nearly 2000 feet higher than the south rim.  The north rim is heavily treed with pine forest, scrub oak, and quaking aspen, among others.  There are numerous burnt areas, the result of regular lightning strikes.  On this day the skies opened up a bit and we were provided with limited views of the massive canyon.  We are also dumped on by some heavy rain showers, and shrouded with clouds.  

We wandered around the viewpoints near the main lodge for a while, and then drove over to Point Imperial [at 8800 Feet the highest viewpoint at the Grand Canyon] and then on to Roosevelt Point, Walhalla Overlook, Angels Window and Cape Royal.  The clouds were heavy, as was a passing rain shower at Point Imperial.  Conditions improved somewhat as we drove out onto the Walhalla Plateau to the other viewpoints.  At Cape Royal the clouds socked in again and we marvelled at the speed at which they were rising up out of the canyon and streaking past us.  It was like cars rushing by on a highway.  Then the rain began pelting us and lightning started striking, so we made a dash back for the cover of the truck.

Despite the unsettled weather I managed to set up the view camera five times and exposed about 10 sheets of film.  Here are a number of digital snapshots taken on this day.

Once we packed up at Cape Royal, it was getting to be fairly late in the day.  We made the long drive back to the rental house in Kanab and settled down for the evening.

 

Returned Home....

I left Edmonton on Friday October 16th and traveled back down to Kanab, Utah.  My friend Brad was traveling with me, and my friend Rob was meeting us down there.  This was my third trip to the area in the last three years.  Brad, Rob and I spent a week down there in October of 2013.  Magarit and the girls and I visited in April of 2014. On this return trip the guys and I were again planning on doing some back country hiking and photography.  As a result of this trip I was unable to attend the reception of the Open Image 2015 show at the Jubilee Auditorium.  The weather had been hot and sunny in the week in advance of our arrival.  Our arrival in Utah coincided with the onset of some cool, rainy weather.  Southern Utah has experienced unseasonable rain this fall.  Many of the back roads were closed, with a high risk of flash flooding, and numerous washouts.  Over the next few days I will be posting a bunch of digital images from this trip, and outlining our experiences.  Then in the coming weeks, as I process my film, I will be posting scans of my large format negatives.

Day Trip

Yesterday I went out for a drive...  I had noticed a couple of things that I wanted to photograph, on my way home from Provost the other day.  At that time the light was not coming from the right direction.  I headed back out to the southeast of Edmonton on Saturday morning.  The day was abnormally warm... probably near a record.  It got up to +25C, but it was very breezy and didn't feel quite as warm as the thermometer suggested.  It was a good thing that I went out when I did because overnight on Saturday a front pushed through, forewarned by the wind during the day.  It began to rain overnight and the temperature dropped right off.  This Sunday afternoon it is very blustery and windy and the temperature has only made it up to about +7C, so far...

We are hosting two Thanksgiving dinners at our house this weekend.  Today Margarit's family is coming over for turkey dinner.  After they leave tonight we will clean up, do the dishes, and then begin preparations for another turkey dinner on Thanksgiving Monday, this time for my side of the family.

I drove out to main street in the town of Holden.  There is an old pool hall that kind of fascinates me and early in the day the sun was on the façade.  The guy that owned it drove on up to see what I what I was doing.  I got the usual questions about surveying....  He was OK with me taking photographs though and told me that this was the oldest liquor store in the province, before it had been turned into a pool hall.  I guess back in the day it was a happening place and if you didn't get your name on the board early, you just didn't get a table.

On my way back into the city I stopped and checked out an old farm yard.  There wasn't much left of the buildings, and the house was overgrown by carraganas and pretty much empty.  But there was a really cool old windmill that was still in pretty good shape and I photographed that.

Business Trip

Yesterday I had to make a trip out to Provost in east central Alberta to carry out an inspection of some problem skylights on a Seniors Home.  It takes a little over three hours to drive from Edmonton to Provost.  I threw my big camera in the truck with me because I know that between the drive, and an hour to check out the skylights, there wouldn't be enough time to head back in to the office.  I made a couple of stops along the way home and photographed a couple of cool subjects that I stumbled across.  The first was an old abandoned delivery van that I found along side the road near Hardisty.  It appears that this vehicle once made deliveries for the Hardisty Bakery and later was put into service by Wells Plumbing.  A short distance down the road I came across a once proud old house, up on a high rise of land.  I made a few photographs here before continuing on my journey back home.  It was a nice way to break up over six hours of driving.  I still made it back into the city in time to take Anna to her dance class in the evening...

Print Session

Last Saturday the weather was blustery and cold and threatening rain.  Rather than venture outside I retreated to the darkroom and set about printing some of my negatives.  It is hoped that at least some of these will make it into my upcoming gallery shows.  So far, so good, as I am generally pleased with the way that these worked out.  I used unsharp masks to print these 4" x 5" large format negatives to 16x20 prints.  These snapshots were taking during the process of clearing and toning in selenium.  The prints then received an extended wash, and have since been dried.  I have a lot of printing to do over the coming weeks and months in order to have all my work ready for several upcoming shows.  This was a good start...

Open Image 2015

The Open Image 2015 Exhibition has been showing in Calgary from mid-August until it recently ended on September 27th.  One of my prints is included in this show.  The show has now moved to the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium here in Edmonton.  It opened on October 1st and runs until November 15th.  There is an opening reception next week, on October 16th, from 7:00 to 9:00PM.  This is open to everyone and all those interested in photography are encouraged to attend.  Here is the official poster with all the details...

Afternoon Stroll

On Sunday afternoon I took a very short drive from my home, over to Blackmud Creek Ravine.  The unsettled weather that we had experienced on Saturday seems to have blown over, and the skies turned clear.  I always love the clear, crisp light of fall and it is one of my favorite times to be out.  On this day it was cool, with the temperature only getting up to about +7C.  Down in the depths of the ravine, in the deep shade of the spruce trees, it was cooler than that.  I was out with my view camera, trying to find a few compositions.  Mostly it was simply to stay in practice, for some upcoming photo outings that I have planned.  It was a relaxing couple of hours and I quite enjoyed getting out for a little while.  It was somewhat surprising to find this Christmas ornament adorning a tree alongside the trail.  These few snapshots were all taken with my iPhone....

Monochrome Guild - Friends and Family Show

Later in November the Monochrome Guild will host our annual Friends and Family Show.  This will be the 4th Annual... I think....  This time around we are making more of an event of it.  We have rented some temporary gallery space and the show will be a weekend long event.  We are trying to spread the word early, in the hope that we can increase attendance.  In the past the show has been very successful, but we want to build on that.  Now guests will have the option of stopping by at their convenience through the weekend.  Here is a copy of the official invitation...